• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• 제82권6호
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• pp.725-734
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• 2022

This work presents a simple exponential shear deformation theory for the flexural and free vibration responses of thick bridge deck. Contrary to the existing higher order shear deformation theories (HSDT) and the first shear deformation theory (FSDT), the proposed model uses a new displacement field which incorporates undetermined integral terms and involves only two variables. Governing equations and boundary conditions of the theory are derived by the principle of virtual work. The simply supported thick isotropic square and rectangular plates are considered for the detailed numerical studies. Results of displacements, stresses and frequencies are compared with those of other refined theories and exact theory to show the efficiency of the proposed theory. Good agreement is achieved of the present results with those of higher order shear deformation theory (HSDT) and elasticity theory. Moreover, results demonstrate that the developed two variable refined plate theory is simple for solving the flexural and free vibration responses of thick bridge deck and can achieve the same accuracy of the existing HSDTs which have more number of variables.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• 제27권3호
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• pp.311-325
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• 2018

This article presents the bending analysis of FGM rectangular plates resting on non-uniform elastic foundations in thermal environment. Theoretical formulations are based on a recently developed refined shear deformation theory. The displacement field of the present theory is chosen based on nonlinear variations in the in-plane displacements through the thickness of the plate. The present theory satisfies the free transverse shear stress conditions on the top and bottom surfaces of the plate without using shear correction factor. Unlike the conventional trigonometric shear deformation theory, the present refined shear deformation theory contains only four unknowns as against five in case of other shear deformation theories. The material properties of the functionally graded plates are assumed to vary continuously through the thickness, according to a simple power law distribution of the volume fraction of the constituents. The elastic foundation is modeled as non-uniform foundation. The results of the shear deformation theories are compared together. Numerical examples cover the effects of the gradient index, plate aspect ratio, side-to-thickness ratio and elastic foundation parameters on the thermo-mechanical behavior of functionally graded plates. Numerical results show that the present theory can archive accuracy comparable to the existing higher order shear deformation theories that contain more number of unknowns.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• 제14권1호
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• pp.85-104
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• 2013

The present work deals with the thermomechanical bending response of functionally graded plates resting on Winkler-Pasternak elastic foundations. Theoretical formulations are based on a recently developed refined trigonometric shear deformation theory (RTSDT). The theory accounts for trigonometric distribution of transverse shear stress, and satisfies the free transverse shear stress conditions on the top and bottom surfaces of the plate without using shear correction factor. Unlike the conventional trigonometric shear deformation theory, the present refined trigonometric shear deformation theory contains only four unknowns as against five in case of other shear deformation theories. The material properties of the functionally graded plates are assumed to vary continuously through the thickness, according to a simple power law distribution of the volume fraction of the constituents. The elastic foundation is modelled as two-parameter Pasternak foundation. The results of the shear deformation theories are compared together. Numerical examples cover the effects of the gradient index, plate aspect ratio, side-to-thickness ratio and elastic foundation parameters on the thermomechanical behavior of functionally graded plates. It can be concluded that the proposed theory is accurate and efficient in predicting the thermomechanical bending response of functionally graded plates.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• 제13권3호
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• pp.385-410
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• 2017

This work presents a simple and refined nth-order shear deformation theory for mechanical and thermal buckling behaviors of functionally graded (FG) plates resting on elastic foundation. The proposed refined nth-order shear deformation theory has a new displacement field which includes undetermined integral terms and contains only four unknowns. Governing equations are obtained from the principle of minimum total potential energy. A Navier type analytical solution methodology is also presented for simply supported FG plates resting on elastic foundation which predicts accurate solution. The accuracy of the present model is checked by comparing the computed results with those obtained by classical plate theory (CPT), first-order shear deformation theory (FSDT) and higher-order shear deformation theory (HSDT). Moreover, results demonstrate that the proposed theory can achieve the same accuracy of the existing HSDTs which have more number of variables.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• 제16권1호
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• pp.1-9
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• 2018

In this paper an efficient and simple refined shear deformation theory is presented for the free vibration of Functionally Graded Plates Under Various Boundary Conditions. The theory accounts for a quadratic variation of the transverse shear strains across the thickness, and satisfies the zero traction boundary conditions on the top and bottom surfaces of the plate without using shear correction factors. The number of independent unknowns of present theory is four, as against five in other shear deformation theories. The plates are considered of the type having two opposite sides simply-supported, and the two other sides having combinations of simply-supported, clamped, and free boundary conditions. The mechanical properties of functionally graded material are assumed to vary according to power law distribution of the volume fraction of the constituents. Equations of motion are derived using Hamilton's principle. The results of this theory are compared with those of other shear deformation theories. Various numerical results including the effect of boundary conditions, power-law index, plate aspect ratio, and side-to-thickness ratio on the free vibration of FGM plates are presented.

• Wind and Structures
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• 제22권3호
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• pp.291-305
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• 2016

In this paper, a refined shear deformation plate theory which eliminates the use of a shear correction factor was presented for FG sandwich plates composed of FG face sheets and an isotropic homogeneous core. The theory accounts for parabolic distribution of the transverse shear strains and satisfies the zero traction boundary conditions on the surfaces of the plate. The mechanical properties of the plate are assumed to vary continuously in the thickness direction by a simple power-law distribution in terms of the volume fractions of the constituents. Based on the present refined shear deformation plate theory, the governing equations of equilibrium are derived from the principle of virtual displacements. Numerical illustrations concern buckling behavior of FG sandwiches plates with Metal-Ceramic composition. Parametric studies are performed for varying ceramic volume fraction, volume fraction profiles, Boundary condition, and length to thickness ratios. The accuracy of the present solutions is verified by comparing the obtained results with the existing solutions.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• 제18권2호
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• pp.409-423
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• 2015

In the present work, a simple and refined trigonometric higher-order beam theory is developed for bending and vibration of functionally graded beams. The beauty of this theory is that, in addition to modeling the displacement field with only 3 unknowns as in Timoshenko beam theory, the thickness stretching effect (${\varepsilon}_Z{\neq}0$) is also included in the present theory. Thus, the present refined beam theory has fewer number of unknowns and equations of motion than the other shear and normal deformations theories, and it considers also the transverse shear deformation effects without requiring shear correction factors. The neutral surface position for such beams in which the material properties vary in the thickness direction is determined. Based on the present refined trigonometric higher-order beam theory and the neutral surface concept, the equations of motion are derived from Hamilton's principle. Numerical results of the present theory are compared with other theories to show the effect of the inclusion of transverse normal strain on the deflections and stresses.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• 제11권5호
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• pp.671-690
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• 2016

This work presents a static flexure analysis of laminated composite plates by utilizing a higher order shear deformation theory in which the stretching effect is incorporated. The axial displacement field utilizes sinusoidal function in terms of thickness coordinate to consider the transverse shear deformation influence. The cosine function in thickness coordinate is employed in transverse displacement to introduce the influence of transverse normal strain. The highlight of the present method is that, in addition to incorporating the thickness stretching effect (${\varepsilon}_z{\neq}0$), the displacement field is constructed with only 5 unknowns, as against 6 or more in other higher order shear and normal deformation theory. Governing equations of the present theory are determined by employing the principle of virtual work. The closed-form solutions of simply supported cross-ply and angle-ply laminated composite plates have been obtained using Navier solution. The numerical results of present method are compared with those of the classical plate theory (CPT), first order shear deformation theory (FSDT), higher order shear deformation theory (HSDT) of Reddy, higher order shear and normal deformation theory (HSNDT) and exact three dimensional elasticity theory wherever applicable. The results predicted by present theory are in good agreement with those of higher order shear deformation theory and the elasticity theory. It can be concluded that the proposed method is accurate and simple in solving the static bending response of laminated composite plates.

• Smart Structures and Systems
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• 제19권4호
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• pp.441-448
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• 2017

This paper uses the four-variable refined plate theory for the free vibration analysis of functionally graded material (FGM) rectangular plates. The plate properties are assumed to be varied through the thickness following a simple power law distribution in terms of volume fraction of material constituents. The theory presented is variationally consistent, does not require shear correction factor, and gives rise to transverse shear stress variation such that the transverse shear stresses vary parabolically across the thickness satisfying shear stress free surface conditions. Equations of motion are derived from the Hamilton's principle. The closed-form solutions of functionally graded plates are obtained using Navier solution. Numerical results of the refined plate theory are presented to show the effect of the material distribution, the aspect and side-to-thickness ratio on the fundamental frequencies. It can be concluded that the proposed theory is accurate and simple in solving the free vibration behavior of functionally graded plates.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• 제21권6호
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• pp.1287-1306
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• 2016

The current research presents a buckling analysis of isotropic and orthotropic plates by proposing a new four variable refined plate theory. Contrary to the existing higher order shear deformation theories (HSDT) and the first shear deformation theory (FSDT), the proposed model uses a new displacement field which incorporates undetermined integral terms and involves only four variables. The governing equations for buckling analysis are deduced by utilizing the principle of virtual works. The analytical solution of a simply supported rectangular plate under the axial loading has been determined via the Navier method. Numerical investigations are performed by using the proposed model and the obtained results are compared with CPT solutions, FSDT solutions, and the existing exact solutions in the literature. It can be concluded that the developed four variable refined plate theory, which does not use shear correction coefficient, is not only simple but also comparable to the FSDT.